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January 2004 Newsletter WHY ORWELL, WHY NOW?George Orwell's greatest novels fit into a dystopian tradition traceable from The Time Machine to The Matrix trilogy. Orwell's particular blend of intellect and conviction has kept his works in circulation for more than fifty years. Orwell wrote in response to the events of his
life, but the power of his writing lies not in how applicable it
was to his own era, but how, a Since the terrorist attacks in 2001, the Federal government has justly sought the means to protect America from real and perceived threats. But these reactive measures have led to a slow and silent erosion of civil liberties. The newly formed Department of Homeland Security has created widely publicized color-coded risk levels, and has been granted broad latitude to monitor our lives. Video surveillance of public spaces has increased exponentially, and ubiquitous identification cards are advertised as "the price we pay for freedom." Our language has undergone changes as well, through efforts at the highest levels of our government. These new constructs run from the ridiculous - the Capitol cafeteria's newly-dubbed "Freedom Fries" - to the terrifying ideology of "Pre-emption." Words and phrases are increasingly spun - and then disseminated - to define groups according to the new doctrine: "Total Information Awareness," "Axis of Evil," "enemy combatants," "un-American," "evil-doers." America is indeed at risk, but where does the danger lie? Animal Farm and 1984 reveal the arrogance of unchecked power and the destructive potential of a culture gripped by fear. These productions reveal frightening truths about our lives today, and astonish with Orwell's enduring power and insight.
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half-century
after his death, it continues to apply to our own. Orwell had witnessed
the rise and fall of fascism, and was opposed to totalitarianism
in any form and from any quarter, Left or Right. He recognized the
tools employed by despotic governments to maintain and increase
their power over the public, particularly the abuse of language
to distort meaning, and the breeding of a culture of fear to allow
unbounded bureaucratic freedom.
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